I Want You There
by Porter Bailey
Summary: One-Shot. Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Lips are having a rough day, but Baldwin has something to confess to Ms. Lips that he's been hiding from her.


I stared into the deep, swirling void of my coffee mug. It was my 3rd cup of the day, and I was still completely out of it. I knew caffeine wasn't exactly an ideal thing for expectant fathers, but I had no other choice. I'd slept like crap the night prior, having been kept awake by the midnight summersaults my unborn were performing. The morning wasn't much better. I spilt half my breakfast on my shirt, dropped half of my things down my apartment stairs, which took me even longer to gather up, and could barely stay awake in the painful traffic that slowed my commute to work. Not to mention my raging headache, that returned whenever the newest dose of caffeine wore off. It was shaping up to be a i _beautiful/i_ day.

I looked around the teacher's lounge, seeing many of my co-workers happy and laughing. As much as I liked them every other day of the week, at that moment I wanted to give all of them a good sock in the fin. If I had to be this miserable, I wanted to bring them all down to my level. But, truthfully, I was too tired. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lulu enter the room, and I smiled ever so slightly. Lunch with her would certainly cheer me up a little bit. I swam over to the fridge, where she was busily digging out her lunch.

"Hey, Lu." I said.

She didn't respond, so I assumed she didn't hear me.

"I've saved a seat for you. I thought maybe we could eat together, you know. If you'd like. My day hasn't been great, and talking to you would…" I continued.

Lulu retrieved her lunch bag, then looked at me. She wore a hurt, angry expression, full of bitterness. My blood ran cold, my chest ached.

"What…what's wrong?" I said.

"You should know." She said.

"I should?" I honest to Cod had no clue what she was talking about.

She sighed, and turned back to her bag, retrieving the foodstuffs from inside and placing them on a paper towel.

"You didn't even come over! Late or not, you didn't show." She said.

I was in the middle of having the worst day of my year, and now my girlfriend was mad at me. And I hadn't the slightest idea what I'd done. Or didn't do. I sat back down at the table, nursing my aching back, and grinding my teeth. Something within me cracked, and a wave of rage washed over me.

"Great. Just peachy!" I snapped. My coworkers turned to stare, but at this point, I was beyond giving a crap.

"What?" She scowled.

"Oh nothing," I scoffed, "just having a horrible day. Now the one person I thought might make me smile isn't talking to me! Why?!"

"It's your own darn fault!"

"Really? Because I have no earthly clue what I may have done to make you so angry! Gosh, I think you're moodier than I am!"

I immediately regretted lashing out, as Lulu's expression grew even more bitter. Before I could think about apologizing, she'd scooped up her lunch and swam off.

"Wait. Lu…" I groaned, heaving myself back out of my chair.

By the skin of my teeth, I caught up to her in the hallway. I gripped her shoulder and turned her around. I was aghast to see she was near tears.

"Lulu, you've got to talk to me. I've got pregnancy brain! I almost forgot my own shirt today. Odds are I'm bound to forget about something every now and then. Is it your birthday?"

She shook her head.

"Was it…did we have a date…last night?" I said.

"You never showed up." She said.

"Was it dinner?"

Again, she shook her head.

"A movie?"

"We were going to make brownies at my house, watch a stupid movie, snuggle. I had to do it all myself, but here. I saved one for you."

Lulu withdrew a brownie in a sandwich bag and handed it to me. I suddenly felt awful.

"Geez..." I sighed.

Lulu tried to hide it, but she was really upset.

"Lu, I...I don't know what to say. I blanked. That's all. I'm sorry I hurt you, but you should've called me. I would've rushed right over-"

"It's fine..." She shrugged; it wasn't fine.

I took the brownie she gave me and pulled it in half. I made her take the second half, which elicited a small smile.

"So, where were you last night?" She asked, still sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh, um...well..." I struggled; the truth was admittedly a little embarrassing.

"Well?" She raised her brow.

"It's kind of...could we go talk somewhere else? Somewhere not in the middle of the hallway?"

Lulu glanced around at all the students swimming by, realizing where we'd been talking. She sighed and took my arm, dragging me into her office. She shut and locked the door behind us, offering much more privacy than we'd had previously. I eased myself into one of the chairs facing Lulu's desk as she looked on passively. She took a seat in my chair's twin, positioned right next to it.

"Well?" She asked, eyeing me expectantly.

"Truth is…I was in a class." I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

"You teach night classes now?" She raised her brow. She was still skeptical.

"No, no. I was taking the class. I was one of the students." I looked down into my mug, swirling the fluid by gyrating the cup.

"What was the class about?"

"It was a-" I quickly mumbled the rest of my sentence into the coffee cup.

"A what?" Lulu asked, pulling the mug away from my face.

"I was in…a prenatal class. I've been going for two weeks now." I confessed.

"Oh! Alright then." She chuckled.

"You think that's funny, don't you?" I sighed.

"Not at all! I was just so worried you stood me up for no reason." She said, smiling genuinely now.

"I would never. I just forgot."

"Well, now I believe you." Lulu grinned.

I felt relieved that she was no longer angry with me, but I was still a little embarrassed about her knowing about my secret shame. I hoped she wouldn't push into the topic, but I didn't get my wish.

"I take it you don't like those classes." She smirked.

"Yeah, they aren't great. Truthfully, I don't exactly mind the class itself. I feel like I'm learning a lot about this whole pregnancy thing. The course isn't the problem, it's…" I trailed off.

"It's what?" She egged me on.

"It's…it's the other people in it. All the other seahorses there have a wife, or a partner, or a friend. And, then there's me. I'm…I'm the teacher's assistant." I said.

"You go alone." Lulu deduced.

I gave her a halfhearted smile and shrugged.

"Hey, what about Marc?"

"Marc?" I scoffed.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'd be eager to help. He's your friend." Lulu said.

"He would, no doubt, but…dear gosh, it'd just be…weird." I cringed.

"Well, I didn't say it wouldn't be! I just don't want you to feel alone!" She said, sounding exasperated.

Lulu pondered the problem for a moment, going quiet in thought.

"Your mom?" She offered.

"Ah, no." I said.

"Any of your sisters?"

"Definitely not."

She thought for a minute.

"Me?" She asked hesitantly, her eyes brightening a little.

"You? Well, um, Lu…it's not…well, I wouldn't want to put you out."

"You wouldn't be 'putting me out,' I'm your girlfriend."

"…you are?" I asked, a little shocked, but happily so. She'd never used the G-word before.

"I'd like to think so. We've been dating for quite a while, now."

"I agree! You're my girlfriend and I'm your boyfriend." I nodded hastily. Excitedly.

"Wonderful, and I'd just love to be there for you, if you'd let me." She said.

"Yeah…yes! Of course you can. If you want, I mean. No pressure." I beamed, blushing a little.

"Then I'll come to your prenatal classes with you, if nothing else than to keep you from being the teacher's example." She smirked, winking.

"Well…thanks. I mean it, Lulu." I said, grasping her fin.

"I'm glad I could be of service." She said, pecking my hand.

"I'm sorry, again, about missing our plans last night."

"Eh, it happens. Just tell me where you are next time."

"You'll be with me next time."

"That's right. I'll help you…remember to breathe, and all that jazz."

I chuckled, knowing full well it was more complicated than it appeared. Suddenly remembering I was still at work, I looked at my watch. My lunch break was nearly up.

"Well, I better skedaddle." I muttered. I began the struggle of getting out of my seat.

"Here. Let me help." Lulu said, gripping my arm and pulling me upright.

"Thanks. I've never gotten the hang of that." I said, rubbing my back.

"It's a wonder how you've ever gotten along without me." She said sarcastically.

"Yeah," I nodded, "it's a wonder."


End file.
